


it's got to be you(r cat)

by atheoryon



Series: Winterhawk Bingo 2019 [2]
Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefighters, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Crush at First Sight, First Meetings, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-10-01 21:09:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20405605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atheoryon/pseuds/atheoryon
Summary: There was a cat on Clint's fire escape.There was a fluffy, white, cat, clearly ascended straight from hell, staring at Clint from its high place as if it had never done anything wrong in its life.





	it's got to be you(r cat)

**Author's Note:**

> this is my winterhawk bingo fill for alpine the cat! 
> 
> title is gratuitously stolen and altered from one direction's gotta be you bc [reystarkrogers](http://www.archiveofourown.com/users/reystarkrogers) called me out on using a (not technically but still) 1d lyric for a title so now all my bingo fills will have 1d titles, enjoy

There was a cat on Clint's fire escape.

There was a fluffy, white, cat, clearly ascended straight from hell, staring at Clint from its high place as if it had never done anything wrong in its life.

He had gotten the call from one of his tenants at five in the _fucking_ morning, because the cat had been making various cat- and uncatlike noises, and he as landlord was supposed to figure out how to deal with that. 

It's too early for this shit.

The cat was about as dumb as all cats seemed to be, as it had climbed too high and now couldn't figure out how to get down. The two times Clint had tried to climb up the stairs, the cat had started making even more noise, so that was a no-go. For now, the cat had settled at least somewhat, curled in on itself as if everything was going exactly to plan. No noise at least meant no noise complaints, so he had a chance to figure out how to deal with this, given that the cat didn't belong to any of the people in the building.

Coffee first, then cat-saving.

If anyone had told him that cat-saving was a part of being a landlord, he'd never have taken the building off of Barney's hands when he'd landed himself in jail. Again.

One Google search and a brewed pot of coffee later, Clint found out that firefighter-saves-cat wasn't just a fun trope in kids' cartoons, but that he could actually call the FDNY and ask them if they could help out with his-that-wasn't-his-cat. Phone ringing in his hand, he leaned out of the window to check that the asshole cat was still there. 

It was.

Because of course none of Clint's problems could solve themselves, no, he had to make phone calls at early o'fuck in the morning. He sent a quick excuse to the sky for the poor receptionist that had to answer him as the call connected. The person who picked up sounded about as tired as he felt, making him wince in sympathy. "Hi, good morning, er, sorry for calling this early, late, sorry for calling," at least the receptionist was polite enough to not laugh at his early-morning rambling, "there is a, er, cat stuck on the fire escape of my building and Google said that I could actually call the FDNY for that?"

Clint was fairly certain that if heaven and hell existed, he'd be going to hell and they'd just play this phone call on loop for all eternity as punishment. At least he was saving a cat, that had to count for something, right? 

Probably not enough.

Luckily enough, Google hadn't lied to him this time and he was informed with what was at least half resignation that a firefighter would be at his building in twenty minutes. Clint thanked his lucky stars that for once Brooklyn wasn't burning and he'd be able to get at least a few more hours of sleep if the cat decided not to be an asshole. An unlikely scenario, but a man could dream.

Twenty-three minutes of chugging coffee and holding a staring contest with Asshole the Cat later, Clint was fairly certain he was still dreaming when he opened the door for the poor firefighter who got assigned cat-saving duty. The guy was wearing what Clint was pretty sure wasn't up to federal regulations, or anyone's regulations, really, but he made it look  _ good _ . He's wearing pants with the FDNY logo on the side that were so tight Clint’s pretty sure they’re the women’s version, with a flannel shirt on, the top button undone and chains from a necklace underneath it. 

He's also got the sharpest eyes and jawline Clint has ever seen.

It's really, way,  _ way  _ too early for this shit.

It's too early for the cat, it's too early for Clint's gay heart, it's too early for anything other than sleeping.

Hot firefighter didn't seem to have gotten that particular memo, all cheery and enthusiastic as Clint clung to his coffee pot like it contained the actual elixir of life as he explained the situation to a guy in his thirties who voluntarily went by the name Bucky. 

“Right, now where’s this sonuvabitch, then?”

At least Bucky shared Clint’s dislike of cats. Or maybe he was one of those cat people that got way too happy about cats being absolute dickheads, like Kate’s girlfriend. 

Clint shuffled towards the window, pointing up to where the white She-Devil was still sat on her throne. Admittedly, Clint’s brain wasn’t working at full speed yet, but he expected a few things from Bucky. Maybe nodding as he worked out how to get the cat down, cursing because it would be difficult, dead silence, who knew how this guy worked. What he most certainly didn’t expect was for Bucky to stick his head out of the window, a calculated look on his face that immediately fell away as he registered the cat. 

What Clint definitely hadn’t expected was for Bucky to swear under his breath, whistle twice and wait with an outstretched arm and an annoyed-fond look on his face and for the cat to just… come down and walk up his arm to settle on his shoulder, with the same holier-than-thou look on its face. 

“This is Alpine, she has a bit of an affinity for high spaces and clearly I didn’t lock up behind me as well as I thought I had, so she decided to conquer Brooklyn.”

The series of unexpected events merrily continued to absolutely ruin Clint’s morning. He’d been dead-set on hating that white piece of fluff and nails for the rest of its hopefully short life, but cuddled up on Bucky’s shoulder it’s actually really cute. Bucky’s soft smile towards the cat probably helped with that as well, but it’s too early for Clint to deal with that.

Not that his mouth realised that.

Because apparently, when faced with cute guys with hellcats at five in the morning, his brain just decides to blurt out whatever the hell wanted, consequences be damned.

“D’you want to get coffee?”

Bucky slowly looked away from Alpine, making sure she wouldn’t fall off, towards Clint, who was still standing with the coffee pot in his hands. Realising this as well, Clint felt a blush fighting its way up to his cheeks. Bucky, though, Bucky smiled, a leisurely thing like the sun rising. “I’m pretty sure you’ve had enough caffeine to last you a week, but if you’re flexible, breakfast?”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed? leave a kudo if you did
> 
> (if you didn't do it anyways, not like i can tell the difference)


End file.
